Center for Healthy Neighborhoods.

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many families in the surrounding campus community are experiencing widespread loss of jobs, lack of food, and impending homelessness. The Center for Healthy Neighborhoods is instituting a comprehensive plan to help provide daily structure and support for low-income residents that includes academic and emotional support associated with social distancing and programs to reduce the hardships associated with financial crisis, increase family resiliency and reduce risk for homelessness.

In addition, dozens of CSUF student interns are providing tutoring and mentorship to youth in the Fullerton and surrounding communities via Zoom. Continuing this program virtually not only provides normalcy for the children who have been coming to the center each week for tutoring and mentoring, but also gives our interns an added sense of purpose and value during what might otherwise be an isolating time. 

Your support of the Center for Healthy Neighborhoods will allow us to:

• Conduct a comprehensive assessment of approximately 1,000 families (via phone) regarding their health, financial well-being, education, and other needs
• Provide store vouchers for high need items such as baby products, food, cleaning supplies, and personal hygiene items
• Create a "help line" for families needing more in-depth case-management or mental health resources (via interns from CSUF Social Work Department)
• Provide virtual education sessions to Center Resident Leaders on such topics as crisis management and how to use social outreach (Facebook, Zoom, WhatsApp).
• Distribute vital Spanish-language information on COVID-19 and resources in OC in partnership with community partners (95% of our vulnerable families are Spanish-speaking)
• Provide virtual health education videos (via students from the CSUF School of Nursing and Center staff) 
• Deliver virtual exercise classes to families (e.g. ZOOMba)
• Develop and gather online educational sites to share electronically with families.
• Provide academic support for children through virtual tutoring sessions using supervised CSUF interns.

The Titan Family is strong enough to overcome even the toughest situations. We band together. We uplift one other. We continue to reach higher. Let's show our students, the CSUF community and the world how much Titans care.